Crunchyroll Manga -- How to Make It Better!

I recently wrote about my experiences with the new, Crunchyroll manga section.  I find Crunchyroll's foray into manga to be a good first step. The question then becomes, what else can Crunchyroll do to get better?  I have some thoughts there.

License for more countries!

While having license rights in 170 countries is good, I know I saw a lot of complaints online from folks in certain countries who have been blocked.  These are folks who check out English scanlations just as much as English-speaking folks do, so if they are denied a legal means of reading the manga in English, they'll continue to turn to the scanlators, many of whom originate outside the U.S.  So getting licenses to more countries to allow them English access would be a good move.

This may end up being nearly impossible since I can see Crunchyroll being blocked in some countries by those who want to retain the option to license online versions there themselves, but who've got no real plans to do so. However, the mindset is, "Even if we don't do this, we stop Crunchyroll from making money here, and we'll call that a win."

License more Kodansha manga titles for simulpub.

Interestingly enough, there are two manga titles that Kodansha Comics has licensed which REALLY should be on Crunchyroll's simulpub list -- xxxHOLiC Rei (CLAMP) and Genshiken Nidaime (KIO Shimoku).  I'm sure there are plenty more, but those two were at the top of my list.

License more manga titles other than Kodansha!

Don't just go for Kodansha titles. Branch out. Grab manga titles from all over, Crunchyroll, as you do for anime. Granted, Kodansha titles will be easier since Kodansha Comics is doing strictly e-books, while someone like Viz is doing their own thing, both in terms of e-book and online. (One can get Viz's most popular titles like One Piece when they come out in Japan, but only if one purchases the digital copy of the manga magazine the manga is published in for Japan.)  However, I think there could be a chance (a long shot to be sure) for Crunchyroll to try to get something like Hayate the Combat Butler (if they got the same translator Viz currently uses and followed the same adaptation scheme) since Viz still isn't doing anything digitally with it, including putting the current chapter out when it is published in Japan.

Frankly, I'd love to to see the Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA manga licensed and put in the simulpub list, and that's just for a start.  Kannagi needs to get in the simulpub group since Takenashi-sensei has returned to drawing the manga again. After Bandai pulled out of the U.S. market, this gives it an even higher priority as a license rescue title.

License rescue out of print manga titles!

Remember TokyoPop? Remember all of those manga titles they had which remain floundering after TP closed shop, unlikely to EVER be touched by anyone? How nice would it be to get to read Sgt. Frog again, which is still being published monthly in Japan, making it another nice simulpub title (and we'd get the four back volumes from where TP left off). Gakuen Alice only recently ended its run in Japan (June 2013). TokyoPop only got through volume 16, meaning we'd have 15 more volumes of new reading. That's just for a start.

Remember Del Rey?  I'm sure many folks would love to read the final volumes Del Rey didn't get to publish of School Rumble, or the single volume of School Rumble Z.

As I see it, putting up all of TokyoPop's, Del Rey's, Bandai's, or even CPM's abandoned titles would be a good thing, especially if they finish out said series or carried on with where the series left off. I wouldn't mind seeing Record of Lodoss War manga titles back where folks could read them.

Make proper two page spreads!

One thing scanlators usually work hard at are two-page spreads. As such, a manga panel that extends over the two pages has an image that looks seamless.  Unfortunately, Crunchyroll just slaps the two pages in the two page mode, which is highly noticeable. I'd like to see Crunchyroll change how they do the two page mode so that instead of the manga viewer grabbing two pages and putting them together for a single display, it instead goes to a new image file which has to the pages put together properly for two page panel spreads.

In conclusion...

What Crunchyroll has done here is a good start. I did pay for a year's subscription to support Crunchyroll's efforts. I do hope that the Crunchyroll manga section continues to grow.  If they can expand their library with more simulpubs as well as out of print manga titles, while picking up titles from other publishers than Kodansha, I think that Crunchyroll will have a winner here.

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 13 Review (Give a girl a croquet mallet and watch her kick butt.)

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 13 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

The UQ Holder regulars aren't happy with Touta for attacking them, but they soon start entertaining the kids, who were frightened by Touta's attack. Touta ends up being entertained as well, causing Karin to remark on his childish mentality.

Karin and Kuroumaru are discussing the slum issue when Sister Kasuga arrives to thank them for helping. Sister Miao bangs a pan to summon the kids to lunch, kicking out some older, freeloading folks trying to score a meal. Touta enjoys some soup as the kids warm up to him.

Touta's bluster about protecting the church is silenced when the church takes a massive attack. A large man shows up, so Touta tries to stand up to him, only to get blasted back. The regular UQ Holder members defend the children from the brute's next attack, getting blasted down as a result. Kuroumaru comes in to assist them as one of the regulars identifies the brute as the Wrecking Ball, who uses a very expensive magic application to use compressed air bullets.

Wrecking Ball is about to attack, so Karin comes in to guard Kuroumaru's back. However, Totua jumps in front of her to payback Wrecking Ball for the earlier hit. Touta asks for permission to take down Wrecking Ball, but Karin tells him no as she'll deal with it. Touta refuses to accept that, so Karin flips to behind Wrecking Ball, telling Touta that first come, first serve. Karin battles Wrecking Ball, appearing to end things by telling the brute that no one can harm her.

Thoughts/Review:

Touta the idiot, still needs to learn a painful less. But enough about Thick Skull.

Sister Kasuga (KASUGA Mikan) provides us another name tie to Negima, this time via Misora. It would be cool if Sister Kasuga was the granddaughter of Misora, but that would be rather difficult IMO unless Misora had a child out of wedlock which took her family name, or Misora was somehow of an important enough family to warrant her husband marrying into the Kasuga family. As such, Sister Kasuga is likely either some relation of Misora's, or not related at all.

I do note that the Sister that looked like an older Cocone wasn't around. I was hoping she'd be here and could be shown helping defend the church. Oh well.

Wrecking Ball is just a generic, large villain, though as others have noted, he does slightly resemble one of Negi's opponents in Negima. I figure Karin will finish him off next chapter (assuming he's not already down for the count).

As for Karin, she is pure awesomeness at this point. OK, so she frightens the children, but she used Touta as a croquet ball when they first met to send him to the underground, and she's schooling his butt in the fight with Wrecking Ball.  I'm really hoping that we see more of her and start getting her background fleshed out, including why her "battle uniform" is a Mahora uniform.

As an aside, I wish Crunchyroll would put the effort into two page spread art that scanlators do. Crunchyroll's manga app just takes the two pages and slaps them together for the two page view, meaning the two page image isn't seamless.

Otherwise, this was a pretty good chapter, Touta elements not withstanding.

Crunchyroll Manga - A Review of the New Crunchyroll Manga Section

With Crunchyroll getting into the manga business, I thought I should do a review of the Crunchyroll manga section.  Within this context, I will also be providing tips to help folks avoid pitfalls I encountered.

Crunchyroll's foray into the world of legal, online manga publishing is one I highly welcome, especially since they are doing "simulpub" work, meaning that for the manga they've licensed which is currently being published in weekly/monthly/whatever magazines in Japan, we are getting them on the same day in West and beyond to some 170 countries.  While there are only twelve manga titles currently licensed by Crunchyroll, should they add to this count, the service will only become better and better.

One does NOT need to be a member of Crunchyroll in order to read the most current chapter of their simulpub titles. As such, those simply wishing to read the most current chapter in Crunchyroll's collection can do so for free.  You do have to watch an advertisement prior to being allowed to read the manga though.

Navigation is quite simple, and I think most will find it better than the scanlation aggregation sites standard manga viewers. Readers are given an option of either a 2-page spread (recommended for those times when the manga artwork spreads over two pages) or a single page at a time. Moving between pages is as simple as either clicking the left side of the panel to advance (Japanese style), or the right side to go back. There's also an option to zoom in/out, and one can go full screen if one wishes. On my 28" screen monitor set to 2560 x 1440, the manga page is crisp and clear at full screen mode, even on the free side. Very nice for seeing more details in the artwork.

For those wanting to sample more of the manga goods beyond just the most current chapter, you'll have to become a premium member. Crunchyroll offers a two week free trial just for that purpose. If you've never been a member of Crunchyroll, you could even select their top premium account tier, thus giving you unlimited access to not only all of their manga, but anime and drama too.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!  When going for a free trial, you will be DEFAULTED to the "Anime Premium" plan, meaning your free trial will only allow you to watch anime.

If you want to change your premium membership plan, you have to change it at the top, which is easy to miss because the whole notion of a "free premium membership" means you get it all, not what they default you to.

In my opinion, Crunchyroll should have a better system in place for this, whereby they make it CLEAR that you have a choice of membership options, not just what they default you to.  Make a point of saying, "Pick a plan" first thing before choosing a ID/password.  Every other place I've ever signed up for makes things really clear on what you are getting. While I did see the "Anime Premium Membership" when I initially signed up, I just figured that this was what they called their free trial, or that it was all they gave away, but I'd still get free manga access as well.

If you do screw up, customer service is not the greatest. It appears that Crunchyroll uses one of those hideous systems whereby some computer application scans the submitted e-mail for key words, then formulates a response for the customer service person to send back. As a result, it took quite a few back-and-forth e-mails to Crunchyroll before someone actually bothered to read my e-mail, then told me I'd accidentally chosen the wrong option.  Technically, Crunchyroll chose the option, but I didn't realize I had the ability to choose something else. But I digress...

I did my free trial via PayPal, and this is another ding I'm putting on Crunchyroll, though I doubt they'll change how they do things since they could score a few extra dollars doing it their way.  The free trial puts you on a PayPal subscription plan automatically. So, when I chose "All Access Premium Plan," Crunchyroll was then authorized to immediately deduct the $11.95 subscription fee the moment the free trial ended.  I would rather that have been a non-subscription free trial, but if you sign up and then forget about it, they just score $11.95.

Changing my subscription plan from "All Access" to "Manga" was easy enough by accessing my account settings. Switching from a monthly subscription to yearly one saved me nearly $20.

It should be noted that if one doesn't have a credit card, one can get premium access for free by  going through various sponsor links and getting credits (like many online games have an option to do).

Even after making a premium manga (or "All Access") purchase, you'll notice that for a title like Fairy Tail or Attack on Titan, Crunchyroll only has the chapters that Kodansha Comics currently hasn't published, or scheduled to have published.  As a member, they'll give you a discount to sell you a copy of the printed edition of the book. Frankly, I found this disappointing, but not unexpected since the fear is you wouldn't buy a printed copy (or a DRM-infested ebook copy) if you could read the old volumes online for a subscription price.  I expect that when Kodansha Comics publishes volume 1 of UQ Holder, the first chapters that are in that volume will be removed as well, though I could be wrong. We'll see since UQH started from scratch, unlike Fairy Tail and Attack on Titan.

Much like Crunchyroll's anime section, the quality of the manga translations solely depends on the whims of the translator. So for UQ Holder, the Twins are keeping the translations in line with how they handled Negima!, which for me, is a pure win. For Coppelion, no offense to the translator for this manga, but I kept cringing because of the lack of Japanese honorifics and insertion of "superior" Western honorifics at times. ^_^; Most of the manga titles appear to retain Japanese honorifics though, and I do plan on giving these other titles a try since I'm paying for the privilege.

Since this piece is already long enough, I'll write another article stating how I think Crunchyroll's manga section can get even better.